George A. Warren

“ One boy loved to hunt wild flowers, and as soon as he could coax a mate to accompany him, since Paul would not allow the scouts to go off alone, he busied himself in the undergrowth, looking in mossy spots for some of the shy blossoms that appealed to his collecting taste. ”

“ Paul instructed them to watch constantly on all sides, so that nothing might escape their scrutiny; and as the little band of scouts pushed deeper into the unknown depths of the mysterious island, they felt more than ever a sense of the responsibility that rested upon their shoulders. ”

“ Get out of that! You're crazy staying there! Run, I tell you, while you have the chance! Get away! Get away, you fools!"
The scouts looked at each other in astonishment. What could it all mean? Were all the men on this queer island stark, staring crazy? He called them that, but it is always a rule for mad people to believe every one else crazy but themselves.
"Say, what does the guy mean?" cried Bobolink, who seemed to be utterly unable to understand a thing; "mebbe it's a small-pox hospital we've run on, fellows!"
But Paul was beginning to see a light. ”

“ Jack continued.
"Wow! wonder if we will strike another rainy spell?" said Bobolink, so quickly that none of the others had a chance to get a word in; "that last one helped us get out of the mud in the canal; if another comes will it be as accommodatin', or turn on us, and whoop things up, carrying our tents away over the island, and losing 'em in the swamps beyond there?"
"Oh! say, don't imagine so much, Bobolink," interrupted Phil. "You're the greatest fellow I ever saw for figuring all sorts of bad things out long before they ever get a chance to start. ”

“ Those would-be jokers seemed to know when they had taken hold of what Bobolink termed the "business end of a buzz-saw;" at any rate they were only conspicuous during the remainder of the night by their absence.
Of course every one of the boys on board the two motorboats was glad when the first peep of dawn came. It had seemed about "forty-eleven hours long," Spider admitted; though he also triumphantly asked Tom Betts whether the other had had occasion to jab that pin into him even once, which the second scout laughingly admitted he had not. ”

“ Bobolink had said.
After all the tents had been raised, and the blankets placed inside, Paul gave permission for a small cooking fire to be made.
To some boys a fire is always a fire, no matter what its intended use; but the scout who has camped out soon gets to know that there is a vast difference between a camp fire, for instance, and one meant only for getting meals over.
The former may be composed of great logs and branches that send up a cheery and brilliant blaze; but which is next to useless when the cook wants to get close in, and attend to his various kettles and frying pans. ”

“ Now, Bobolink is a cracker-jack of a fellow to get up all sorts of clever schemes for sprinkling creepers in the night; but he's a little apt to be flighty when it comes to running a boat. There! what did I tell you, Paul; they've run aground, as sure as you live!"
"You're right, Jud; and it looks like the Speedwell might go over on her beam-ends, the way she's tilted now. Good for Jack; he's ordering them all over on the upper side! That may keep her from toppling over!" Paul exclaimed, as he gave the wheel a little turn, and headed straight for the boat in peril. ”

“ Paul replied, musingly.
"D'ye mean the wild man?" asked Bobolink.
"It might be," replied Paul. "If your old dog, Nuthin, has taken to the free life of the woods—gone back to the type of his ancestors, as I've heard of dogs doing many a time—why, you see, he'd just seem to fit in with a wild man who lived about like the savages used to away back." ”

“ Urged on by an almost unanimous call, Paul finally agreed to start the motor again, and see what the result would be. So Jud sent the order to the second boat by means of his signal flags.
When the cheerful popping of the Comfort's exhaust made itself heard, there was an almost simultaneous cheer from the scouts.
"We're off!" they shouted, in great glee.
"Goodbye, old mud bank!" cried Gusty, waving his hand in mock adieu to the unlucky spot where so much precious time had been wasted. "See you later!"
"Not much we will!" echoed Joe Clausin. ”

“ Like most of his comrades, Paul was averse to being driven away from Cedar Island by unknown parties, without at least another effort to explore the mysterious place, and making an attempt to discover what sort of business these men were engaged in.
That it was something unlawful he was convinced, as much as any of his chums. Indeed, everything would seem to point that way. Men do not often hide themselves in an unfrequented section of the country, unless they are engaged in some pursuit that will not stand the light of day. ”

“ He had not liked the looks of that big fellow which Nuthin claimed to have recognized as his old Lion. If they chanced to run across the beast again, it might feel disposed to attack them; and nothing would please Bobolink more than to have Paul bowl the creature over with a single shot. Any dog that did not have the sense to stay at home, and feed at the hands of a kind master, deserved to get the limit, he thought. ”

“ When the scout master takes snuff they start to sneezing right away."
"And for that very reason, Bobolink, I don't want you to say a word in advance to any of the fellows. When we have a vote, it should be the free opinion of every scout, without his being influenced by another. But what do you think of the idea, Jack?"
"I think it's just great," answered his chum. "And by the way, if we should conclude to come back to the island again in the night, I know the finest kind of a place where we could hide the motorboats." ”

“ It gets away with me; that's all."
"All the same, it's mighty good of you fellows, coming all the way out here with me tonight; and even when Bobolink's got a stone bruise on his heel, or something like that," Jack went on to say, with a vein of sincere affection in his voice; for the boys making up the Red Fox Patrol of Stanhope Troop were very fond of each other.
"Oh! rats! what's the good of being a scout if you can't do a comrade a little favor once in a while?" asked Bobolink, impetuously. "But there's the mill looming up ahead, Jack, in the dark. ”

“ He knew Ted Slavin of old, and felt that the town bully would not hesitate at even such a thing as that.
Then there was such a thing as cutting the hawser, and letting the boats drift down-stream, to bring up against some rocks that might stave a hole in the delicate planking. Who could tell but what the rope had parted under a strain? Sometimes a break may look like the work of a sharp knife; and anyway, as darkness lay upon the scene, with a cloudy sky overhead to hide the young moon, the identity of the vandal could never be absolutely known. ”

“ Things are never as bad as they might be."
"The boys seem to have settled down here just as if they meant to enjoy the rest of the stay," Paul observed, as he turned his head again, so as to look at the bustling camp close by.
"Yes, and even the very air seems to tell of peace and plenty," said Jack, with a little laugh, as he sniffed the appetizing odors that were beginning to announce that preparations for the evening meal had started.
"You're right," agreed Paul, "I guess there's nothing more 'homey' than the smell of onions frying. ”

“ Paul went on, with considerable feeling.
"Sure we have," added Jack. "Instead of that stick taking me in the cheek, it might have struck my eye and injured my sight for life."
"And where I got only a wrench that may make me limp a little for a few days, I could have broken a leg," said Paul.
"That's one of the rules scouts have to keep in mind, you know," Jack continued; "always be cheerful and look on the bright side of things. I reckon there never comes a time when you can't find a rainbow of promise if you look far enough. ”

“ Bobolink possessed courage, even if he lacked discretion. The possibility of an encounter with this doubtless savage animal did not deter him from following his leader.
Again they heard that suspicious rustling in the bushes ahead, this time louder than before. And quickly on the heels of this sound came a low, threatening growl that, strangely enough, made Bobolink chuckle softly, he was so pleased over having his announcement proven true to the Commodore of the motorboat fleet.
"Look out, Paul," he whispered; "he's laying for you in those bushes. ”

“ But Paul was too wise for that. He believed in selecting the right sort of boys, and not taking every one who offered his name, just because he wanted to have a good time. These fellows would not be able to live up to the iron-clad rules that scouts have got to subscribe to, and which are pretty much covered in the twelve cardinal principles which, each boy declares in the beginning, he will try and govern his life by—"to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." ”

“ Keep right along that way for a while, and something's bound to get a move on it, which I hope will be our two boats!" cried Gusty Bellows.
"Did you ever hear it come down heavier than that?" demanded Old Dan Tucker, as he looked anxiously around to see that none of the cargo was exposed to the flood.
"Wonder if this old thing sheds water?" suggested Jud, looking up at the heavy canopy as though he fancied that he felt a stream trickling down the back of his neck.
"You can bank on it," declared Joe Clausin. "Anything Mr. Everett owns has got to be gilt-edged. ”

“ It was pretty hard to keep the spirits of Bobolink from sizzling and gushing forth like a fountain when the water is turned on. He could joke, even while the several leaders of the expedition were consulting gravely about their chances of holding the boats against the frightful suction of the current, when the obstructions in the outlet of the lake gave way, which they hoped would not be suddenly, but by degrees.
It was certainly a condition that confronted them, and not a theory. Paul was really more worried than he showed ”

“ Although most of the boys had looked a bit peaked, and even haggard, when they first issued from the tents, this had long since vanished. The frolic in the cool water, and now this feast in the open, proved the finest tonics possible.
They were now filled with new energy and pluck. Nobody dreamed of being frightened away from camp by such a little thing as a meteor bursting near by, or any other strange happening. Perhaps, when night came around again, this buoyant feeling might take wings, and fly away ”